From grand Tudor hunting feasts to Georgian fancy and 1980s charity events, here's 450 years of dining at Newark Park. The three menus below suggest the food likely to be eaten at the three significant periods in Newark’s history, and by associated figures: Tudor, Sir Nicholas Poyntz; Georgian, Rev Lewis Clutterbuck and Modern (1970/80s), Bob Parsons.

Tudor menuThe diet would be meat heavy, with few vegetables. Food would be embellished with sugar and spices – these were expensive imports and demonstrated status.

In addition to meat-based courses, we could expect Poyntz to provide expensive and elaborate confectionery in the form of ‘subtleties’ – also known as marchpane (marzipan), which were sugar-based sweets and table sculptures.

Fresh fruit was a luxury product, especially popular was to serve interesting varieties of apple. Banquets often made use of the following ingredients in dishes, as they were known to have an aphrodisiac quality: aniseed, pine kernels, candied eringo root (sea holly) and marmalade.

Menu (with old spellings):

Ale

Brawne and mustard

Capons stewed in white broth

A chine of beef and a breast of mutton boild

Three green geese in a dish, sorrell sauce

After alhalowen Daye a swan, sauce chaudron

A pigge

Two capons roasted, sauce wine and salt

A custard

Jelly

Pecock, sauce wine and salt

Two cunnies or half a dozen rabbets, sauce mustard and sugar

Half a dozen of pigions

Mallard, sauce mustard and uergious

Gulles, storke, heronshew, crab, sauce galantine

Feasant, sauce water and salt, onions sliced

A dozen of quailes

A dish of larkes

Tarte, gingerbread, fritters, marchpane

Apples

Georgian menuRev Lewis Clutterbuck lived through a time of transition in eating, with a change from ‘service a la Francaise’ to ‘service a la Russe’ (French to Russian). This meant a fundamental change in how food was presented and consumed.

With the former ‘Francaise’, food was on large serving platters and waiting on the table. People helped themselves but it was rude to ask for dishes to be passed, so it was pot luck regarding what was near.

With ‘Russe’, individual plates of food were served from the sideboard in a sequence of courses such as soups, fish and meat. It was a gradual transition and traditional ways continued well into the 19th century.

As such, we can expect Clutterbuck to have continued the traditional form while experimenting with elements of a Russian service.

First course

Ox tail soup

Curried chickens

Haunch of mutton roasted

Ham glazed

Boiled turkey

Mashed potatoes

Pickles

Boiled rice

Broccoli

Second course

Black cock

Hashed hare

Venison

Lobster salad in white sauce

Calf's feet jelly

French beans

Trifle

Coffee cream

Lemon cream

Blancmange

Modern menuWe asked Michael Claydon (Newark's final tenant) what sort of food was cooked by Bob Parsons at Newark when entertaining. Unsurprisingly, the typical menu described has some of Bob’s American heritage, as well as his other interests.

Michael on Bob’s typical menu: 'A home baked large ham was a favourite, chicken, celery and rice as a hot pot, home made hamburgers, Boston baked beans and soups. Bob’s love of Italy influenced his food; Lasagne, pasta and great salads.

'When Bob had National Trust Acorn camps in the early days he always insisted on feeding them, so was happy to cater for large numbers.'

Michael Claydon on Bob's tastes:'Once I was at Newark I took the burden of cooking from Bob; fish pie, beef Wellington, roasts of all kinds, summer parties were always a selection of salads and wonderful dessert.'